


A night's watch

by dreigiau



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Comfort, F/F, Pre-Relationship, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:33:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28578297
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreigiau/pseuds/dreigiau
Summary: Spoilers up to 2x120After another day spent trekking and fighting their way through Eiselcross the Nein and their new travelling companions bed down for the night. Frustrated with herself for not being much use in a fight (again), Beau insists on taking first watch as she seeks the solace of her own company.---Based on this prompt from @hayley-kiyoko-is-my-queen on Tumblr:They are traveling with Lucien and so they can’t go use the tower. The mighty nein just use the dome at night (Lucien and his crew have their own set up I am assuming). They aren’t able to go on their date on the original day that they planned, but beau and yasha have the first night watch duty together and talk and maybe cuddle a little ;)
Relationships: Beauregard Lionett/Yasha
Comments: 6
Kudos: 158





	A night's watch

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for the prompt - sorry it's taken so long to get round to finishing this!

“I’ll take first watch” Beau insisted the moment that Caleb dropped to the ground and began his work on casting the dome. 

She could see the way that Fjord had stopped what he was doing to eye her curiously but a well-placed glare in his direction stopped him from arguing the point with her. 

Unfortunately Jester didn’t get the memo.

“Beau, are you s -” 

The monk turned her attention to the tiefling, nodding before she could finish her sentence. “It’s fine, Jes” she affirmed through slightly gritted teeth. She had taken quite a beating earlier when the party was (once again) attacked by frost worms, but she didn’t want the others to realise she was still pretty beat up - she couldn’t let them realise just how useless her human body was. “The spellcasters should rest first anyway, it’s more important that you get your spells back…”.

She shrugged before turning her back to the others, stepping a little away from the group and lifting herself up onto a large rock where she could get a better viewpoint of the Tomb Takers’ camp and the surrounding area. 

Beau could hear the movement of her friends behind her as she sat down cross-legged and pulled her cloak tighter around herself. It was fucking freezing and her entire body ached. There was definitely going to be some bruising to contend with.

She hated Eiselcross.

Whilst Beau was usually pretty perceptive her current exhaustion and frustration added to the fact that her teeth were chattering as she shivered, was enough to mask the sound of boots crunching in the snow behind her. 

It wasn’t until the last moment that she caught movement in the corner of her eye but before she could react she felt the familiar warmth of Yasha as the Aasimar placed a hand on her shoulder. 

“Caduceus made tea…” she explained before gently pressing a mug into Beauregard’s hands. 

“Oh. Thanks…” the monk muttered in response, cold fingers wrapping around the warm beverage, her eyes briefly scanning Yasha’s face before dropping back to the dark expanse ahead of her. 

She could feel the warmth of Yasha still beside her and squeezed her eyes closed for a moment. She wanted to be alone. She had felt useless today, she didn’t want anyone’s pity.

“Are you okay…” 

Beau swallowed thickly, hesitating for a moment before shrugging. “M’fine. You should go get some sleep” her words came out a little blunter than she’d meant, but she hoped at least it would mean that Yasha would get the point. She wanted to be alone.

Beau had the feeling that the barbarian might just see through her self-loathing and try to assure her that she was useful to the rest of the group. She wasn’t sure she wanted to hear that right now.

The rustle of clothing caught Beau’s attention as Yasha shifted beside her, but she kept her eyes fixed ahead of her, refusing to look at the barbarian - this woman too easily made her weak. And a moment later there was another shift as the barbarian reached out, her fingers wrapping around the Belaber that was laying in front of the human. 

Beau’s brow furrowed as she watched, a little confused as to what was happening, and when Yasha released the bo staff she had to squint against the bright light that was now emanating from the weapon.

“To help you a little…” the soft voice explained.

The smaller woman bit her lip, ignoring the way her stomach flipped as her fingers gently brushed over the now glowing staff. “Thanks Yash…”

Yasha let out a soft breath and nodded. Her eyes passing over Beau’s face, now lit up enough for her to see the bruising that had formed around her right eye. 

She hesitated a moment, her tongue darting out to nervously lick her lip as she considered her actions before reaching down towards Beau, gently cupping the side of the monk's face in her large hand. 

As a familiar warmth began to emit from the other woman’s palm, Beau’s breath caught in her throat. She wasn’t even sure at this point whether it was her body’s reaction to the sudden healing magic or an involuntary reaction to Yasha’s touch.

(Possibly both)

“Please stop trying to hide your injuries from Jester and Caduceus” she whispered, her thumb gently brushing the now fading bruising on Beauregard’s face before she reluctantly removed her hand and began to walk away. 

Beau swallowed once more, her heart beating a little harder in her chest for reasons she didn’t really want to dwell on. She squeezed her eyes shut, took a deep breath and called out after the barbarian. 

“Yasha, wait…”

The heavy crunching of boots in the snow paused. 

Her heart was beating so loudly. 

“Take watch with me?” Beau whispered. 

The few moments it took for Yasha to respond somehow felt like forever to Beau. 

“I - I got the impression that you didn’t want to be around anyone right now…”

Beau sighed, glancing over her shoulder to look at Yasha - finding the other woman was staring back at her with what looked like it might have been hope in her eyes. 

“Well yeah” she admitted with a shrug. “But you’re not _anyone_ ” she said bravely. 

Yasha bit her lip and gestured her head back towards the rest of the Nein. “I would have to go let them know…”

“Yeah I mean -” Beau shrugged once more. “That’s okay…not like I’m going anywhere…”

The smallest of smiles pulled at the corner of the barbarian’s lips and she nodded. 

“Okay, I’ll just -” she gestured back towards where the dome had just shimmered into existence.

“Okay, yeah…” Beau nodded, hating how weirdly nervous she felt as she watched Yasha turn and head back to the group. 

She let out a soft sigh and reached for her backpack, pulling out her bedroll and blanket, placing both on the cold stone beneath her in the effort to create a comfier place to sit, and then lifted the tea from Caduceus to take a long drink of it. 

“Is the tea good?”

Yasha’s soft voice startled Beau ever so slightly but she smiled as she saw the aasimar reapproaching and taking a space on the stone beside her. 

“Yeah it’s not bad actually” Beau agreed with a nod, watching as Yasha took a sip from the mug she had brought back over with her. “Please tell me you didn’t ask which dead people he grew it from…”

Yasha laughed softly and looked over at Beau, a smile on her face that made the monk’s stomach flip once more. “No, I didn’t”

“Okay good” Beau nodded and wrapped her hands tighter around her own drink. 

A comfortable silence fell between the two of them as they drank their tea and stared out ahead of them, their eyes occasionally scanning their surroundings for danger but always returning to the small light of the Tomb Taker camp. 

“It’s been a weird fucking day, huh?” Beau glanced up at Yasha before taking the last sip of her tea. 

“It’s -” Yasha sighed, tearing her eyes away from the other camp. “It’s been a day” she agreed, looking over at Beau. 

“You were fucking awesome in that fight by the way, with the giant frost worm things…”

“Oh. Thank you” Yasha smiled and glanced away hoping to hide her blush. 

“I mean...how many people can say that they’ve ripped one of those things in two?” she asked with raised eyebrows and a shrug. 

“I didn’t rip it in two, Beau” Yasha laughed softly. 

“Pfft, you practically did” Beau argued. 

The aasimar rolled her eyes amusedly and pulled her coat tighter around her. “I cut into it to try to get you out of there…”

“Yeah and look - all I remember is darkness and then all of a sudden my guardian fucking angel is tearing a hole in a fucking frost worm to save me! And let me tell you - your muscles bulging…” Beau grinned up at Yasha and winked teasingly. “Not forgetting that any time soon”

The taller woman shook her head and rolled her eyes once more. “You have a very active imagination, Beau” she muttered amusedly. 

“Sure do” the grin widened and she wiggled her eyebrows a little before looking away with a laugh. 

“Thanks for getting me out of there by the way…” she added quietly after a moment, offering Veth’s old flask to the other woman. 

Yasha smiled and took the skin. “Please stop getting eaten” she pleaded as she lifted the flask to her lips. 

The monk opened her mouth to say something but caught Yasha’s ‘don’t you dare’ expression and instead just chuckled lightly. 

“You got some pretty good hits in too, you know…” Yasha insisted after a moment’s pause.

“No I didn’t” she shook her head and drew her knees up to her chin. “I’ve felt so fucking useless these last couple fights…” it was hard to admit, but if she could say it to anyone it was Yasha. 

The taller woman considered her for a few moments before passing the flask back to the monk. 

“You are one of the best fighters I’ve ever seen…”

“Being good in a fight means fuck all when you’re just a human in Eiselcross apparently” Beau shrugged and took a long swig of the flask. “If I can’t stun something, and my punches don’t do much to it -” she sighed. “I just feel like I’m - like I’m letting the team down”

“No, no no. Beau that is not - you haven’t let anyone down”

“Spells get wasted to heal me” she huffed, “You nearly lost your sword trying to get the automatron off of me yesterday…” she pointed out.

“I think I nearly lost more than my sword with that stupid idea…” Yasha muttered, a frown crossing her face at the memory of how close she had been to hitting Beau.

On another day the young human might have made a joke about teaching Yasha to have better aim, but she was too fed up, too exhausted and too disappointed in herself. She sighed and looked out at the Tomb Takers camp once more. 

“I don’t trust them,” she said, changing the subject. 

“I don’t think any of us do”

“Do you think we’re doing the right thing?” Beau asked, glancing up at Yasha. “Agreeing to travel with them?”

Yasha sighed softly and bit her lip. “I don’t think we had much choice” 

“Yeah” Beau’s brow furrowed and she leant forward, chin resting against her knees and her arms wrapping around them. “D’you think they would have killed us?”

“I don’t know. I - I find _him_ hard to read” the barbarian admitted carefully, her heterochromatic eyes drifting towards the other camp once more. 

“You think he might just be all talk?” Beau lifted her head slightly to gaze at Yasha, grateful for the light cantrip the Aasimar had provided.

“Not _all_ talk, no” she shook her head gently. “Vess was - she must have been very powerful. He couldn’t have killed her by chance”

Beau hummed slightly in agreement.

“But I -“ she hesitated and, “I think - or maybe I just hope, that he’s almost as hesitant to attack as we are” she shrugged.

“Yeah” Beau agreed gently, “But I don’t think he would think twice about killing us if it becomes clear it’s the only way to get the stone…”

Yasha let out a heavy sigh. “I hate this”

“Yeah, you’re not the only one”

The two of them fell quiet, staring ahead at the other camp. 

“I hate seeing him like that…”, Yasha’s voice was quiet, wavered slightly. 

“Yeah, it fuckin’ sucks” Beau muttered, passing the flask back into Yasha’s hand. “I hate this...so much. But - he was your best friend…” She knew that whatever she was feeling about the situation - it must have been at least twice as bad for Yasha.

Yasha smiled sadly, lifting the flask to her lips and taking a swig. “I can’t let go of the hope that he’s in there somewhere, you know?” she admitted quietly after a few more moments.

Beau squeezed her eyes closed for a minute before reaching out and gently squeezing Yasha’s forearm. She wasn’t very good at comforting people. She never had been and she doubted it would change. But she cared about Yasha, and she had to at least try. 

“If he is, we’ll find him” she promised. “We’ll do whatever it takes to bring him home”

Yasha nodded and lifted the flask to her lips once more. 

“Molly was family” Beau whispered, “We all are”

Yasha smiled gently and nodded, passing the flask back with a soft sigh.

Their watch continued like that for a little while, the two of them sat close enough that they were almost touching but neither willing to make that last movement towards the other as they passed the flask between them. 

Beauregard let herself get lost in her thoughts, allowing herself to enjoy the small comfort that came from having this woman by her side. 

In the end it was Yasha that broke the silence. 

“You make me nervous too, by the way…” she admitted in a soft voice after what must have been at least twenty minutes of quiet between them. 

“Wha - oh…” Realisation dawned on the monk’s face, her eyes widening slightly as she remembered her own words to the other woman just the day before. 

“I -” Yasha hesitated and glanced down at the ground for a moment, a smile forming on her lips before she lifted her head to look at the human sitting beside her. “I actually - I actually kind of like it,” she admitted honestly. 

The monk was awkwardly working her jaw as she waited for Yasha to finish her thought, but the moment she did Beau was unable to stop the stupid smile that formed on her face as she let out a soft laugh filled with happiness. 

“That’s - uh, yeah” she chuckled lightly, “That’s good” she nodded, swallowed nervously and lifted her gaze to meet those eyes that welcomed her to her dreams far more often than she was willing to admit to. “For what it’s worth...I kinda like what you make me feel too…”

The admission made her want to look away, look at anything but Yasha but she held fast. She had said she wanted to do this right, and that meant no longer running from feelings, it meant being honest and opening herself up to whatever this could be. 

And it looked as though Yasha was possibly going through a similar thought process, eyes searching Beau’s for a moment before she smiled and reached to start unfastening the shrug that she had always worn, before carefully draping it across the monk’s legs.

“You look cold,” she said simply.

“I thought you didn’t let anyone else wear it?” Beau asked, blue eyes searching that beautiful mixture of purple and turquoise. 

“Yeah I - I didn’t” the Aasimar shrugged, “But...well...a lot has changed…I didn’t know you then…”

“Knowing me changes things?” Beau asked with a soft chuckle, trying to mask the nervousness those words brought to the surface, and the stupid grin she so desperately wanted to let free. 

“Knowing _you_...” Yasha paused. “Knowing you has changed a lot of things for me, Beau”

“Oh” The monk swallowed hard, that was - fuck, this was getting real wasn’t it?

And they weren’t even on their date yet.

(Damn Lucien)

When Beau didn’t say anything, Yasha tried once more.

“I was really looking forward to our date” she whispered.

“I was dreading our date…” Beau admitted with a nervous laugh.

“Oh”

“No - wait. Fuck” she sat up a little straighter and turned to Yasha, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck. “Sorry, I mean…” she shook her head and chuckled softly, she was useless at this. Taking another breath she looked up once more, a small smile on her face as her eyes searched Yasha’s. “I was looking forward to it, I just - it’s really kinda scary, you know?” She tried to explain, a hand gesturing awkwardly in front of her as if that was going to make more sense. 

“Yeah I get that” Yasha agreed softly. “You know I’ve never actually been on a date…”

“Well the last date I went on was with Tony so…” she admitted with a shrug and some more awkward laughter at the memory of her one and only boyfriend. 

“What about Tori?”

“We didn’t exactly go on dates” the young monk admitted with a shrug, mind drifting to her teenage years in Kamordah. “I mean…” she swallowed and worked her jaw as she took a moment considering her words, and whether to continue her train of thought or not. But as she looked at Yasha, a soft smile on her face, tired yet relaxed as she sat cross-legged in the cold to keep Beau company, she realised she could say whatever was on her mind to this woman now. That was what you did with someone you were hoping to pursue a lasting relationship with, right? You were meant to open up and trust in that person.

And so she took a breath and continued, “The longer this thing with you goes on the more I realise that what I had with Tori meant more to me than it did to her” she shrugged and couldn’t stop herself from looking away, still a little embarrassed to be so honest.

“Why - why’s that? We’re not…”

Beau didn’t give the barbarian time to finish her thought. 

“Because you care about me” she replied simply, her voice wavering ever so slightly, her eyes fixed firmly ahead. 

“Or I mean - it feels like maybe you do. And you’re not...you’re not afraid to show that” she shrugged, still scared to be wrong about Yasha’s feelings or intentions towards her. “You take care of me when I can’t help myself, you support my ideas, you care about what I have to say, what I think…” she swallowed nervously and glanced at Yasha. “I was with Tori a long time ago and I was a very different person then. I hadn't really had anyone show any kind of affection towards me, so I guess it was easy to fall for her, you know? To become enamored with someone who shows an interest in you?”

Yasha nodded, having a little bit of an understanding of the point Beau was trying to make, but stayed quiet letting the human continue.

“And now things are so different. I’m surrounded by people that care about me, and it’s fucking disorienting at times, but it’s amazing. The entire Nein - well, we’re a family” she shrugged. She loved them all so much and couldn’t imagine ever being apart from them - even if that did feel inevitable in her mind. “I guess what I’m trying to say is that things with you are different, because I _know_ that my feelings for you have nothing to do with craving affection. And I know that I’m not rushing into anything, even if it was fucking terrifying asking you on a date” Beau bit her lip, eyes dropping to her fingers which were absent mindedly brushing across the soft fur of Yasha’s shrug. “We’ve been lucky to have the chance to get to know each other, and - well, you know that I’ve always thought you were really hot, but I’ve also had the chance to learn so much more about you, and I guess let my guard down, let myself develop feelings for you...”

“I meant it when I said that I like you a lot, Yash…” she whispered. “And the first chance that we get I really want to have that date with you, because Tori might have been a big part of my past, some parts good, some bad, but I - at the risk of coming on too strong...I want you to be a big part of my future…” she swallowed nervously at her admission but forced her gaze back up to meet Yasha’s. “I want our second beginning...”

Yasha bit her lip and stayed quiet as she processed the words, the thoughts and feelings that Beau had just shared - which of course inadvertently left Beau immediately worrying she had said too much. 

Finally Yasha’s pounding heart began to calm, her eyes falling to the woman beside her. 

“You’re supposed to be an asshole, you know…” she said fondly, reaching out, seeming to steel herself for a moment before wrapping an arm around the much smaller woman and tugging her closer.

Beau huffed, “I thought you kinda liked that I’m an asshole?”

“Yeah” she laughed softly. “Yeah I do”

Beau chuckled gently and allowed herself to lean further into Yasha’s hold, into her warmth. 

“This is kinda nice”

“Yeah, it is”

“You know months ago when I asked if you wanted to huddle for warmth…” she felt Yasha nod against her. “Could’ve had this then if only you’d said yes…”

Yasha rolled her eyes and sighed dramatically. “Don’t push it…” she teased. 

Beau grinned and tucked further into Yasha’s warmth. “You make me feel safe…” she whispered, echoing the words written on the parchment that she had tucked carefully into her jacket, the words that she had read so many times over that they were etched into her mind - hopefully forever. 

Yasha smiled, her arm tightening around the monk beside her, her head turning as she pressed a gentle kiss to the top of Beau’s head. 

_This -_ Beau thought to herself as she let herself relax into the strong body beside her. _This might be as good as any date I’ve ever been on_.

And when Caduceus came to relieve them of their watch an hour later that was exactly how he found them, wrapped in each other’s arms. And if he hesitated to give them a few more minutes of this respite - well, no one needed to know.


End file.
